US $870 million in debt relief

The World Bank and IMF have declared Mali eligible to receive US $870 million in debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative due to progress it has made in economic and social reforms, the World Bank reported on Tuesday. Gross primary school enrolment has been increased from 32 percent in 1991/1992 to 56 percent in 1999/2000. Moderate improvements have also been made in health, with the development of community health centres and the promotion of private-public partnerships to develop and consolidate health reforms. Economic reform efforts have been promising but their results have fluctuated because of factors such as poor weather and higher oil prices on the world market, the World Bank said. Real GDP growth was seven percent in 1997, fell to 3.5 percent in 1998 and rebounded to an estimated 5.5 percent in 1999, it said. The HIPC Initiative, launched by the World Bank and the IMF in 1996, aims to eliminate unsustainable debt in the world's poorest, worst indebted countries.